8 Rad Armored Car

Contributors

Vehicle

8 Rad Armored Car

Faction

Afrikakorps

Light vehicle very effective against infantry. Can damage light vehicles.

Note: This page refers to the DAK vehicle. For the Wehrmacht version, refer to this page:

Both versions are identical, but benefit from different abilities and upgrades available to their faction.

The 8 Rad Armored Car is a DAK light vehicle unit. In multiplayer skirmishes it is available from the .

The 8 Rad is essentially a stronger, more combat focused version of the 250/9 halftrack. Similar to the UKF Humber Armored Car, it is armed with an rotating autocannon that is devastating to infantry and other light vehicles. Part of this incredible power is due to the autocannons fast rate of fire, allowing for powerful bursts against these targets. However, its lack of penetration means it will struggle against most armoured targets.

Unlike the Humber, it is far more durable with more health and armour values, although it has an awkwardly longer length that can make maneuvering more difficult, in addition to slower speed comparatively.

The 8 Rad is best used a shock vehicle, as it can use its superior speed and firepower to rout enemy infantry and weapons team easily, as well as chase down vehicles and retreating infantry. If the opponent does not respect its power, infantry losses will occur very quickly unless they are in cover. It is especially effective if attained early on, as just like the Humber it can be incredibly devastating for an unprepared opponent who is lacking in anti-tank weaponry.

As time passes it becomes harder to keep the 8 Rad alive due to being vulnerable to more and more threats, although it does have much higher durability than comparative light vehicles, making it a lot easier to micromanage the unit. The 8 Rad overall lacks utility, although it gains a new toggle ability called Commander Mode upon reaching veterancy level 1, which allows it to disable its weapons in exchange for increasing sight range and granting combat bonuses to nearby infantry. More information about the 8 Rad abilities can be found below.

Armor

light armoured car

Veterancy

1200 XP

Unlocks veteran ability. Increases rotation rate, accuracy, and acceleration.

3600 XP

Increases speed, rotation rate, rate of fire, and accuracy.

7200 XP

Increases speed, acceleration, health, range, and rate of fire.

Veterancy Abilities

Commander Mode: Active toggle ability gained upon reaching veterancy level 1. When toggled on, the unit will disable all of its weapons in exchange for increased sight range, as well as granting increased accuracy and rate of fire to nearby friendly infantry. The 8 Rad generally lacks utility but with this toggle ability, it can suddenly become a support unit that can see farther and buff nearby infantry. One situation it can be quite useful in is treating it as basically an enhanced version of Hold Fire, as it functions the same except with benefits (just be sure to toggle off when you want it to attack). This can allow the 8 Rad to hide its presence from anti-tank weapons while still being useful to the army.

Abilities

Vehicle Awareness

Enables the vehicle to detect enemy vehicles in the fog of war.

Blitzkrieg

Increases vehicle speed, rate of fire, and makes unit harder to hit when active.

Commander Mode Disabled

The unit will disable its weapons to increase effectiveness of nearby team weapons and vehicles.

+50% vision range and disables weapons. Units in the aura gain +20% reload speed and +20% accuracy.

Hold Fire Disabled

Unit will not engage unless given a manual attack order when active.

Stealth Off

Toggle to enable Stealth. Vehicle must be out of combat for at least 6 seconds before it can stealth again.

Emergency Repair Kits

The unit will slowly repair damage when out of combat and stationary.

Restores +%1% health per second.

Smoke Canisters

Orders the vehicle crew to deploy smoke canisters in front of the vehicle.

120

Vehicle Capture

Increases speed, rotation rate, and allows the vehicle to capture and decapture territory.

+20% speed and +15% rotation rate.

Armory Upgrades/Abilities

Emergency Repair Kits: Passive ability. The unit will repair itself when stationary and out of combat. Requires the Emergency Repair Kits upgrade from the Armory.
Smoke Canisters: Active ability. Drops smoke directly in front of the vehicle. Requires the Vehicle Survival Package upgrade from the Armory.
Vehicle Capture: Passive ability. The unit gains increased movement speed, rotation rate, and is able to capture/decapture territory. Requires the Rapid Advance upgrade from the Armory.
Tungsten Core Ammunition: Globally upgrades the penetration of all tank guns and autocannons. Cosmetically the weapon's tracer effects are also changed to a greenish colour.

Armored Support Battlegroup

Vehicle Awareness: Passive ability. The vehicle can detect enemy vehicles in the fog of war. Requires the Vehicle Awareness perk.
Panzer Storm: Active battlegroup ability. Upon activation, globally increases the speed of all vehicles and grants them immunity to engine criticals for the duration.

Weapons

20mm-8-rad-ak	Near	Mid	Far
Accuracy	0.52	0.318	0.18
Range	10	20	40
Penetration	16	14	13

Mg34-coaxial-8-rad-ak	Near	Mid	Far
Accuracy	0.64	0.58	0.52
Range	7	20	35

Tank-smoke-ak	Near	Mid	Far
Range	0	27.5	55
Penetration	35	35	35

Change Log

1.6.5 May 1 2024

8- Rad Commander Mode

The bonuses provided by the 8-Rad's Commander mode were far too powerful in addition to the 8-Rad being able to spot targets from afar. The following change puts the 8-Rad's Commander mode to where its intended power should be.

Reload and accuracy bonuses set to 20% from 30/40%